Ling Woo Liu, a graduate of U.C. Berkeley’s Journalism School, blogged about Yun Mingjun, one of Asia’s hottest artists. From Time The China Blog:
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Yue Minjun should be as happy as all of his self-portraits. On a recent trip to piracy heaven, also known as Shenzhen’s Luohu Commercial City, I spotted some knockoff versions of the contemporary Chinese artist’s work. It was a bit jarring, given that I was surrounded by five floors of fake Prada bags, iPods and Callaway golf clubs—all foreign brands. In October, I interviewed Yue for a multimedia slideshow that we produced to go with a cover story (by Hannah Beech) about Asia’s red-hot artists. He told me that he started to draw as a kid in order to minimize his boredom in the classroom. Lucky for him, his method of passing time now earns him millions—last June, his painting “The Pope” sold for $4.28 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London.
